A FRISCO SENSATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1921, Page 8

A FRISCO SENSATION.

MARAMA’S PURSER ROBBED. ADVENTURE WITH ARMED MEN. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Dec. 21. The Marama. which arrived in Wei- 1 lington from San Francisco yesterday, brought news of a daring robbery of 5000 dollars from the ship’s purser, Air. Leighton, while he was bringing the money from the bank to pay the crew. It appears that Mr. Leighton went to the bank, placed the money in a brief bag. then stepped into a taxi and was taken down .Sansom e Street towards the ship. It was about 11 o’clock in the morning and Sansome Street, which is a street containing large warehouses and buildings with offices, was fairly busy pedestrian and vehicular traffic. A motor-car which was running a little in front, of Mr. Leighton’s taxi suddenly swerved and forced his motor against the kerb, causing the driver to stop. Three men leapt out of the other ear and one of the men, who wore goggles, held up the taxi driver with a revolver and removed' tire ignition key, thus preventing the taxi being driven. In the meanwhile the other two men pushed their revolvers against the body of Mr. Leighton and, on learning that

he was unarmed, snatched the bag containing ths money and, •hurrying to their own car, drove quickly away before the spectators realised what had happened. Mr. Leighton immediately proceeded to the Union Company’s and reported the occurrence and without delay the police were notified. A large posse of detectives and uniformed men were soon in search of the bandits. The car was found abandoned some distance away from the scene of the hold-up, it having been stolen by the criminals. --It is believed the criminals intended to rob the pursur of the Sonoma, who drew 17,000 dollars from the bank while the Marama's purser was there. The Sonoma’s purser, however, took a different route to the wharf. No trace of the thieves or the money has since been reported.